


Nothing But A Number

by makesometime



Category: Terra Nova (TV)
Genre: Birthday, Established Relationship, F/M, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-11
Updated: 2012-07-11
Packaged: 2017-11-10 00:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/460160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makesometime/pseuds/makesometime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yet despite her presence in his life, the happiness she brought to his every moment – happiness he never again expected to feel, never again expected he would <i>deserve</i> - he would not greet the sun as a friend on this day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing But A Number

The sun peeked over the horizon with a orange glow, the promise of another beautiful day in the shine of its rays. Fitting, Wash would say. Ironic, he would counter and she'd just roll her eyes at his pessimism.

Because if there was one emotion Nathaniel Taylor never felt on his birthday, it was optimism.

He'd lost too much in his lifetime to find joy in celebrating the passing of another year. Ayani was always very big on birthdays, made a fuss of him to an inordinate degree through a mixture of love and the pleasure of his leave coinciding with the day. But Ayani was gone.

As a child, Lucas was incredibly creative; handmade gifts and his own prototype inventions were things Nathaniel had received on birthdays throughout the years. He still had one of the mugs his son had made him, stashed at the back of a cupboard. But Lucas was gone.

His fifty-ninth birthday had been spent alone. Without his wife, without his son. Without his new love, even. Taken from him like the rest, the fates showing no consideration of his feelings on the matter of losing everything he held dear. But she didn't stay gone. 

The fates had nothing that could compete with the determination of Alicia Washington.

She was still here. His second love, his second wife, his second chance.

Yet despite her presence in his life, the happiness she brought to his every moment – happiness he never again expected to feel, never again expected he would _deserve_ \- he would not greet the sun as a friend on this day.

#

Alicia awoke slowly, stretching and taking in her surroundings with an calmness that didn't usually come when woken sharply by an alarm.

She rolled over to greet her husband on his birthday only to find his side of the bed empty; smoothed a hand over the sheets to determine they were long-since cool. With a frown she swung herself out of bed and padded quietly through the house in search of him.

The door to the back porch was slightly ajar and she smiled at the sight of Nathaniel that she could glimpse through it, seated on one of their wooden chairs and looking out towards the sunrise. His elbows rested on his knees as he propped his chin on his hands, the golden light painting his face in gorgeous tones. His expression was guarded, but she could see the tension in his posture, the lines on his face that weren't often present any longer.

Walking out to join him she saw the line of his shoulders relax a little as he sensed her presence, placed her hand there in greeting and stood in silence beside him.

"Happy birthday." She said eventually.

He sighed, as he always had on this day, for all the years she'd known him. "Getting old, Wash." He replied, which was new, but not unlike him to joke about.

She smiled, smoothing a hand over the back of his head before she noticed he wasn't smiling too. "Nathaniel... this is really bothering you isn't it?"

He shrugged.

"It's not true." She said, moving to stand in front of him. When he didn't reply, she huffed. "It's not!"

When he continued to ignore her assertions she growled, ducking her head to capture his lips in a kiss that quickly turned heated, even by their standards. She moaned readily as his tongue stroked hers, her nerves singing at their stimulation.

His hands reached for her hips, tugging her down across his lap with a growl of his own. His burgeoning length pressed against her eagerly and she bucked into him with a chuckle.

"What have I told you about laughter?" He asked, pulling away and leaving her panting, eyes heavily lidded and kiss-swollen lips slightly parted.

"Men half your age don't have this kind of reaction in them." She grinned. " _You_ have nothing to worry about and _I_ am a very lucky woman."

Instead of replying, he pulled her into a tight embrace, burying his face in her hair. "I'm the lucky one." He said, just loud enough for her to hear.

They stayed in their embrace as he took comfort in her touch, Alicia enjoying the heat of him in her arms in the chill morning air. He calmed beneath her (fortunate, given that she was on duty that morning) and eventually sat back, smiling at her for the first time that day.

"Good morning." He said, catching her hand up and pressing a kiss to the back of it. "I love you, Alicia. Thank you for putting up with me."

Alicia smiled fondly, combing her fingers through the hair at the side of his head, nails teasing sensitive skin. "I love you too. Which is why I _do_." She smirked. "It's... not always easy."

He chuckled. "I can well believe that."

"You staying here today?" She asked, knowing his preference for hiding away on his birthday. It was a strangely superstitious act on the part of such a realistic man, to expect trouble and danger to follow him simply because of the day of the year, but she honoured his wish none the less.

He nodded slowly. "Most likely."

"If you wanted to meet me for lunch...?" She offered.

"Then I know where to find you." He said, stealing one final kiss before she stood.

"Good." She said, looking down at him with an increasingly devilish smile. "And tonight when I get home, we can set about proving exactly how not old you are." She purred.

Walking through into the unit, she heard his frustrated snarl and despite knowing it was cruel to leave him alone with such an image, she couldn't deny that she found a strange kind of satisfaction in it. 

#

"Hey Wash! Wait up!" 

Alicia stopped at the sound of the familiar voice calling to her, turned to see Jim Shannon jogging over to walk beside her as she returned to Command.

"How can I help you Shannon?"

He smiled broadly at her, in the way he thought was disarming but usually just raised all kinds of suspicions in her. "I've been here eighteen months now. And I realised that in that time, Taylor hasn't celebrated his birthday."

"Maybe Taylor doesn't have a birthday." Alicia replied deadpan, starting up the steps as he fell into step beside her.

Ignoring her completely, Jim spoke again. "Then I remembered. There was one entire day last year when he hid himself away. I thought it was..." He trailed off, realising his mouth had run away with him again. Alicia did her best to smile reassuringly at him (a strange thought, to need to reassure _this_ man) and he swallowed before continuing. "Ah, I thought it might be grief, you know? But he was back the next day as if nothing had happened, and Guz wasn't saying a word."

"Fascinating story." Alicia drawled, ignoring the way his eyes narrowed on her, suspicious. "What's the point of it?"

"That day was this day. Today. And once again he is conspicuous in his absence." He said, pointing accusingly at her. "And you are covering for him."

"Am I?" She asked with a laugh, rounding Nathaniel's desk and taking a seat. "Thanks for letting me know."

Jim's gaze turned heavenwards for a brief moment, before he too flopped into a chair. "It's Taylor's birthday isn't it?"

She should have denied it immediately, taken the wind out of Jim's sails. But there was something inside her that shouted that he should really know – he was one of Nathaniel's closest friends, one of his most trusted people. And the longer she considered it, the fewer reasons came to mind to keep it secret. "Yes." She said after a long pause. "But please, don't let it become public knowledge. He doesn't like the attention and there's a _lot_ of history you don't know."

Jim smirked. "So the surprise party is off then?"

Alicia scowled. "I know you're only joking but yes. A thousand times." 

"I do have a gift though." He said, getting to his feet. "Wanna see?"

Alicia just stared at him for a second, unnerved by his sudden childlike excitement. Eventually she stood also, coming back around the desk. "I don't know, do I?"

"Come on Wash, trust me." He said, putting an arm around her shoulders when she reached him.

"No good thing has ever been preceded by those words leaving your lips Shannon." She said, but went with him willingly as he led the way out of Command and across the colony, to an area of mostly unused storage units.

He slowly opened the end of one of the leftover shipping containers and it fell to the ground to reveal a Carno skull, much like the one in Nathaniel's office.

"For the man who has everything." Jim said with a flourish.

Alicia looked between the skull and him several times. "Another one of something he already has? Even I do better than that, and I have as much choice as you do."

Jim smirked. "That's because you always give him you." Alicia flushed momentarily and his amused expression faded to dull horror. "Aaand that was supposed to be a joke. Thank you for confirming my horrible horrible mental images."

"Suck it up, Shannon." Alicia laughed.

"That's what _she_ -." Upon her glare, he stopped immediately, smiled winningly at her and then turned back to the container. "As I was saying – for the man who has everything. A matching desk, for his home."

Alicia's eyes widened in horror. "No. Oh no. I am not having that... _thing_ in my house."

"It's not _for_ you." He replied. "I know you both have separate offices. You don't even have to see it."

"No, but I'll know it's _there_." She said, shuddering a little. Slowly she looked away from the skull, turning imploring eyes on her friend. "There's nothing I can say to make you change your mind is there?"

"Will Taylor like it?" Jim asked, his expression melting into triumph when he realised he'd chosen exactly the right thing to say.

"He'll love it." Alicia said reluctantly, kicking the toe of her boot into the dirt. "Fine. Fine. It's not as good a present as me, you understand. But I know when I'm beaten."

While he could so easily have crowed about his victory, Jim simply smiled, closing the container. 

"So, tell me how you got this into the colony in the first place without us noticing." Alicia said once they were on their way back to the heart of the colony.

Jim laughed. "Picture the scene..." He started, speaking with sweeping hand gestures. "It was a dark and not-so stormy night, oh, three weeks ago. The Commander and his Captain were at Outpost 3 on a recon mission..."

Alicia chuckled. "Very clever. You draft Guz in to help?"

"You think I could have managed it on my own?" Jim asked. "He was with me when I found it, it was his idea in the first place."

"Yet you're the one giving it to him?"

Jim shrugged. "Guz said he didn't want to break the habit of a lifetime, and already had the whiskey ready to give." 

Alicia smiled. "Sounds like Guz."

"So, here's the kicker." Jim said, once they were back at the base of the Command steps. "I need you to get him out of the house. On a scale of one to 'not a chance in hell', how likely is that to happen?"

Alicia raised one shoulder in a lazy half-shrug. "I really don't know. He said he might meet me for lunch, but I never expect it..." She trailed off, looking over Jim's shoulder. She knew her face probably lit up in the most stupid of ways at what she saw, but she couldn't help it. "Speak of the devil..."

Jim turned immediately, smiling at the approaching man. "Commander." He greeted, wisely holding off on any elaboration. "I'll leave you to lunch with your beautiful wife on this lovely day." He said, backing off and heading in the direction of the barracks.

Nathaniel left it a beat before speaking. "He knows doesn't he?"

Alicia linked her hand with his proffered one, leading him towards their favourite stall. "He knows."

#

Alicia returned home a few minutes later than him that evening, after the longest he'd ever spent out and about in the colony on his birthday. It felt oddly freeing, after so many years shut away. No disasters, no unexpected events. Just a normal afternoon playing hooky with his wife at Guz's insistence.

She found him standing in the doorway of his office, gaze stolen by the new addition to the room.

"Shannon?" He asked as he felt her approach, smiling when her arm encircled his waist. 

"How did you guess?"

He hummed, pretending to consider this. "Could it be because I know how much you hate my dino desk?" He asked, facing her and slipping his arms around her.

"I _do_ hate it." She murmured, her hands tracking up over his chest to link behind his neck. "So very much..."

It took very little effort on his part to come to the decision to lower his mouth to hers, initiating a kiss that came close to putting their morning one to shame. She whimpered under the force of his touch, the way he grabbed her to him and the bruising pressure of his lips. Tonight was going to be special, he could tell.

And he had the perfect way to start.

Ensuring she was properly distracted (her nails in his skin, her mouth sucking his bottom lip) he started to walk them towards the desk.

When she realised where they were headed she stopped him, stepping out of his hold. "Oh no. Not a chance."

He chuckled at her immediate dismissal of his plan. "You don't want to christen it?"

"That... thing." She said, pointing at it with distaste clear on her face. "Is nothing to do with me." Raising an eyebrow she crossed her arms purposely high under her breasts. " _I_ have my own present for you, but if you'd rather..."

He stepped close, pulling her in tight. "Hell no, Wash." He said, keeping his voice low in the way he knew affected her the most. "I have a feeling I'll like yours even more."

She grinned up at him, innocence in her expression that was completely belied by the way she passed her palm hard over his erection. "Then by all means sir. Follow me."

He knew full well what her 'present' was. Even if it wasn't always a variation on a theme each year, her promise of the morning would have given him a hell of a clue. So when her path turned left out of his office and he walked after her into their bedroom, it was no great surprise.

"I was going to wrap it..." She said, making her way to the end of the bed. "But it seemed like too much trouble. And besides." She paused, putting her hands on her hips. "I know how much you like undressing me."

Moving in close, he put his hands over hers, revelling in the way her dark eyes burned with hungry fire. "Rules?"

"Whatever you want." She smiled. "And we don't stop until we're both satisfied you're not old."

Laughing properly, he let his hands come around to grip her ass, lifting her easily and striding across to the wall. She let out a gasp of pleasure when his movement forced his length up against her core, her eyes falling closed at the sensation despite the material between them.

Grabbing each of her wrists, he pinned her hands above her head, brought their faces on a level. "That might take a while, captain. Are you ready for such a challenge?"

She chuckled, flexing her thighs around him. "Give it your best shot, sir."

A low rumble of laughter escaped him. "Yes ma'am."


End file.
